Author Spotlight
Talk Book Discussion : The Funeral Boat by Kate Ellis
This group has been archived. Find out more.
Join LibraryThing to post.
2EadieB
Kate Ellis was born in Liverpool and she studied drama in Manchester. She worked in teaching, marketing and accountancy before first enjoying writing success as a winner of the North West Playwrights competition. Crime and mystery stories have always fascinated her, as have medieval history and archaeology which she likes to incorporate in her books. She is married with two grown up sons and she lives in North Cheshire, England, with her husband.
Kate's novels feature archaeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson who fights crime in the "mean streets" (or should it be "mean lanes"?) of South Devon. Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case. She has also written five books in the spooky Joe Plantagenet series set up in North Yorkshire and the first novel in a new historical trilogy set in the aftermath of the First World War as well as many short stories for crime fiction anthologies and magazines. Kate was elected a member of The Detection Club in 2014. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association and Murder Squad. Kate has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library and she is currently working on her twenty third Wesley Peterson novel.
Location, Location, Location
Or how the 'Tradmouth' crime wave began!
Dartmouth, South Devon
Having lived all my life in the North West of England, I arrived in Devon purely by chance in 1984. The last minute offer of a holiday for myself, my husband and my elder son (then six months old) at a friend's apartment in Torquay led to a journey on the Paignton to Kingswear steam railway to the ancient port of Dartmouth. When I crossed the sparkling river on the ferry that sunny September day, chugging towards the historic town with its pastel coloured houses cascading down to the water, it was love at first sight and we have returned to Dartmouth every year since then.
When I began to write crime novels I had to decide where my stories were going to be set. I didn't feel drawn to a 'big city' setting and I found that the South Hams area of Devon with its seafaring connections, historic towns and beautiful countryside populated by all manner of interesting people - locals, incomers, farmers, artists, holiday makers etc, etc - fitted the bill perfectly.
I made the decision not to use real place names but to base my fictitious locations only loosely on actual towns and villages. Tradmouth is, of course, loosely based on Dartmouth; Neston on Totnes; Morbay on Torbay; Bloxham on Brixham etc. However, unlike the real Dartmouth my Tradmouth has a police headquarters and a large hospital; and my Morbay is far seedier than the attractive resort of Torquay. In 'An Unhallowed Grave' my 'Stokeworthy' is an amalgam of several villages near Dartmouth and 'Stokeworthy Manor' bears a close resemblance to Bradley Manor, a beautiful medieval house (National Trust) situated near Newton Abbott. This approach allows me a good deal of freedom to use my imagination and to change things around to suit the story I want to tell.
Of course everyone who reads my books will know that I like to feature past crimes as well as present…two mysteries for the price of one. And although I might take terrible liberties with modern day locations I try to ensure that the historical aspect of the stories is as accurate as possible. For 'The Armada Boy' I researched the D Day landing practices on Slapton sands and the evacuation of the South Hams in 1944…as well as the fate of the Spanish Armada of 1588. 'The Funeral Boat' was inspired by reading about Viking raids on south Devon in 997AD in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. And when I read about Devon's strong connections with the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 and the county's grim connection (courtesy of Judge Jeffreys) with the West Indies, 'The Bone Garden' was born. 'A Painted Doom' deals with the dramatic events of the Wars of the Roses (Devon was strongly on the Lancastrian side) and their tragic aftermath. I am currently working on book seven in the series which features Devon's darker maritime history…wrecking.
Of course as my books deal with contemporary crime and contemporary issues, my research isn't limited to events in the past. I spend some time each year in Devon just getting a feel for the area and what is going on. Several of the pubs mentioned in the books are based on real establishments (painstaking research again) and St Margaret's church where Gerry Heffernan sings in the choir is based on the lovely medieval church of St Saviour's in the centre of Dartmouth.
Sometimes Wesley and Gerry's investigations take them further afield. In my latest book, 'A Painted Doom', Gerry Heffernan takes a sentimental journey back to his native Liverpool. (I particularly enjoyed writing this as Gerry's youthful haunts seem to be strangely similar to my own). However, I'm afraid the crime wave looks set to continue in 'Tradmouth' for the foreseeable future and I only hope the people of the South Hams will forgive me for increasing the 'murder rate' in their beautiful part of the world.
and now the crime wave moves to North Yorkshire.......
For a while I've been keen to branch out and begin another, totally different, series (not that Wesley will be taking a back seat - I've just completed the next book in the Tradmouth series and the following one is in the planning stage).
It was while I was taking part in an archaeological dig in York with my younger son, Olly, that I had the initial idea for my new Joe Plantagenet novels. In search of entertainment after the dig had finished for the day, Olly and I decided to go on one of York's ghost walks and the tales our guide told planted a seed in my mind that was to eventually grow into 'Seeking the Dead'.
Since that evening I have come to know York rather well as Olly won a place at York University to study archaeology at King's Manor (now part of the university but once home to the Abbot of St Mary's Abbey in the Middle Ages and headquarters of the Council of the North after the Reformation). And so York became Eborby (as with Tradmouth, I like to use a different name to give myself the freedom to use my imagination). I love the city of York with its ancient walls, its narrow snickleways, its magnificent Minster and its rich and eventful history. It is also reputed to be the most haunted city in England so I couldn't resist adding a touch of the supernatural to the new books as well as memorable characters and mysteries with plenty of twists and turns.
I do hope my readers enjoy the new series!
Here's a link to Kate's Blog or Diary:
https://www.kateellis.co.uk/kates-diary
Link to Kate's Interviews
https://www.kateellis.co.uk/media-interviews
Forthcoming Events
9 October 2019, at 6.30 pm, Kate will be speaking at Bebbington Library CH63 7PN
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/best-selling-crime-author-kate-ellis-in-conversat...
19 October 2019, Kate will be speaking at the "East Riding Festival of Words" in Beverley, Yorkshire
12 November 2019, at 2.30 pm Kate will be speaking at Alsager Library ST7 2QH
Her books in the Wesley Peterson series, containing an intriguing blend of mystery and history, include:
Novels
Featuring Wesley Peterson
The Merchant's House, 1998
The Armada Boy, 1999
An Unhallowed Grave, 1999
The Funeral Boat, 2000
The Bone Garden, 2001
A Painted Doom, 2002
The Skeleton Room, 2003
The Plague Maiden, 2004
A Cursed Inheritance, 2005
The Marriage Hearse, 2006
The Shining Skull, 2007
The Blood Pit, 2008
A Perfect Death, 2009
The Flesh Tailor, 2010
The Jackal Man, 2011
The Cadaver Game, 2012
The Shadow Collector, 2013
The Shroud Maker, 2014
The Death Season, 2015
The House of Eyes, 2016
The Mermaid's Scream, 2017
The Mechanical Devil, 2018
Dead Man's Lane (2019)
The Burial Circle (2020)
Featuring Joe Plantagenet
Seeking the Dead, 2008
Playing with Bones, 2009
Kissing the Demons, 2011
Watching the Ghosts, 2012
Walking by the Night, 2015
Albert Lincoln
A High Mortality of Doves (2016)
The Boy Who Lived with the Dead (2018)
Others
The Devil's Priest, 2006 (historical novel) set in 16th century Liverpool
Quick News
Kate's short Story TOP DECK is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for 99p ($0.99 US)
Kate's historical crime novel The Devil's Priest is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for 99p ($0.99 US)
Kate's collection of 10 short stories Dark and Merciless Things is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for £1.99 ($2.99 US)
Kate's short story, THE MOLE CATCHER'S DAUGHTER is featured in MOTIVES FOR MURDER - A Detection Club anthology, published to celebrate the 80th birthday of Peter Lovesey.
Kate's short story, THE NAKED LADY OF PRAGUE is featured in The Crime Writer's Association Anthology MYSTERY TOUR
Kate's novels feature archaeology graduate Detective Sergeant Wesley Peterson who fights crime in the "mean streets" (or should it be "mean lanes"?) of South Devon. Each story combines an intriguing contemporary murder mystery with a parallel historical case. She has also written five books in the spooky Joe Plantagenet series set up in North Yorkshire and the first novel in a new historical trilogy set in the aftermath of the First World War as well as many short stories for crime fiction anthologies and magazines. Kate was elected a member of The Detection Club in 2014. She is a member of the Crime Writers Association and Murder Squad. Kate has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger in the Library and she is currently working on her twenty third Wesley Peterson novel.
Location, Location, Location
Or how the 'Tradmouth' crime wave began!
Dartmouth, South Devon
Having lived all my life in the North West of England, I arrived in Devon purely by chance in 1984. The last minute offer of a holiday for myself, my husband and my elder son (then six months old) at a friend's apartment in Torquay led to a journey on the Paignton to Kingswear steam railway to the ancient port of Dartmouth. When I crossed the sparkling river on the ferry that sunny September day, chugging towards the historic town with its pastel coloured houses cascading down to the water, it was love at first sight and we have returned to Dartmouth every year since then.
When I began to write crime novels I had to decide where my stories were going to be set. I didn't feel drawn to a 'big city' setting and I found that the South Hams area of Devon with its seafaring connections, historic towns and beautiful countryside populated by all manner of interesting people - locals, incomers, farmers, artists, holiday makers etc, etc - fitted the bill perfectly.
I made the decision not to use real place names but to base my fictitious locations only loosely on actual towns and villages. Tradmouth is, of course, loosely based on Dartmouth; Neston on Totnes; Morbay on Torbay; Bloxham on Brixham etc. However, unlike the real Dartmouth my Tradmouth has a police headquarters and a large hospital; and my Morbay is far seedier than the attractive resort of Torquay. In 'An Unhallowed Grave' my 'Stokeworthy' is an amalgam of several villages near Dartmouth and 'Stokeworthy Manor' bears a close resemblance to Bradley Manor, a beautiful medieval house (National Trust) situated near Newton Abbott. This approach allows me a good deal of freedom to use my imagination and to change things around to suit the story I want to tell.
Of course everyone who reads my books will know that I like to feature past crimes as well as present…two mysteries for the price of one. And although I might take terrible liberties with modern day locations I try to ensure that the historical aspect of the stories is as accurate as possible. For 'The Armada Boy' I researched the D Day landing practices on Slapton sands and the evacuation of the South Hams in 1944…as well as the fate of the Spanish Armada of 1588. 'The Funeral Boat' was inspired by reading about Viking raids on south Devon in 997AD in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle. And when I read about Devon's strong connections with the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 and the county's grim connection (courtesy of Judge Jeffreys) with the West Indies, 'The Bone Garden' was born. 'A Painted Doom' deals with the dramatic events of the Wars of the Roses (Devon was strongly on the Lancastrian side) and their tragic aftermath. I am currently working on book seven in the series which features Devon's darker maritime history…wrecking.
Of course as my books deal with contemporary crime and contemporary issues, my research isn't limited to events in the past. I spend some time each year in Devon just getting a feel for the area and what is going on. Several of the pubs mentioned in the books are based on real establishments (painstaking research again) and St Margaret's church where Gerry Heffernan sings in the choir is based on the lovely medieval church of St Saviour's in the centre of Dartmouth.
Sometimes Wesley and Gerry's investigations take them further afield. In my latest book, 'A Painted Doom', Gerry Heffernan takes a sentimental journey back to his native Liverpool. (I particularly enjoyed writing this as Gerry's youthful haunts seem to be strangely similar to my own). However, I'm afraid the crime wave looks set to continue in 'Tradmouth' for the foreseeable future and I only hope the people of the South Hams will forgive me for increasing the 'murder rate' in their beautiful part of the world.
and now the crime wave moves to North Yorkshire.......
For a while I've been keen to branch out and begin another, totally different, series (not that Wesley will be taking a back seat - I've just completed the next book in the Tradmouth series and the following one is in the planning stage).
It was while I was taking part in an archaeological dig in York with my younger son, Olly, that I had the initial idea for my new Joe Plantagenet novels. In search of entertainment after the dig had finished for the day, Olly and I decided to go on one of York's ghost walks and the tales our guide told planted a seed in my mind that was to eventually grow into 'Seeking the Dead'.
Since that evening I have come to know York rather well as Olly won a place at York University to study archaeology at King's Manor (now part of the university but once home to the Abbot of St Mary's Abbey in the Middle Ages and headquarters of the Council of the North after the Reformation). And so York became Eborby (as with Tradmouth, I like to use a different name to give myself the freedom to use my imagination). I love the city of York with its ancient walls, its narrow snickleways, its magnificent Minster and its rich and eventful history. It is also reputed to be the most haunted city in England so I couldn't resist adding a touch of the supernatural to the new books as well as memorable characters and mysteries with plenty of twists and turns.
I do hope my readers enjoy the new series!
Here's a link to Kate's Blog or Diary:
https://www.kateellis.co.uk/kates-diary
Link to Kate's Interviews
https://www.kateellis.co.uk/media-interviews
Forthcoming Events
9 October 2019, at 6.30 pm, Kate will be speaking at Bebbington Library CH63 7PN
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/best-selling-crime-author-kate-ellis-in-conversat...
19 October 2019, Kate will be speaking at the "East Riding Festival of Words" in Beverley, Yorkshire
12 November 2019, at 2.30 pm Kate will be speaking at Alsager Library ST7 2QH
Her books in the Wesley Peterson series, containing an intriguing blend of mystery and history, include:
Novels
Featuring Wesley Peterson
The Merchant's House, 1998
The Armada Boy, 1999
An Unhallowed Grave, 1999
The Funeral Boat, 2000
The Bone Garden, 2001
A Painted Doom, 2002
The Skeleton Room, 2003
The Plague Maiden, 2004
A Cursed Inheritance, 2005
The Marriage Hearse, 2006
The Shining Skull, 2007
The Blood Pit, 2008
A Perfect Death, 2009
The Flesh Tailor, 2010
The Jackal Man, 2011
The Cadaver Game, 2012
The Shadow Collector, 2013
The Shroud Maker, 2014
The Death Season, 2015
The House of Eyes, 2016
The Mermaid's Scream, 2017
The Mechanical Devil, 2018
Dead Man's Lane (2019)
The Burial Circle (2020)
Featuring Joe Plantagenet
Seeking the Dead, 2008
Playing with Bones, 2009
Kissing the Demons, 2011
Watching the Ghosts, 2012
Walking by the Night, 2015
Albert Lincoln
A High Mortality of Doves (2016)
The Boy Who Lived with the Dead (2018)
Others
The Devil's Priest, 2006 (historical novel) set in 16th century Liverpool
Quick News
Kate's short Story TOP DECK is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for 99p ($0.99 US)
Kate's historical crime novel The Devil's Priest is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for 99p ($0.99 US)
Kate's collection of 10 short stories Dark and Merciless Things is available to download from the Amazon Kindle Store for £1.99 ($2.99 US)
Kate's short story, THE MOLE CATCHER'S DAUGHTER is featured in MOTIVES FOR MURDER - A Detection Club anthology, published to celebrate the 80th birthday of Peter Lovesey.
Kate's short story, THE NAKED LADY OF PRAGUE is featured in The Crime Writer's Association Anthology MYSTERY TOUR
3Olivermagnus
Thanks >2 EadieB:
4Carol420
Thanks >2 EadieB:.
5Sergeirocks
23 Wesley Petersons, blimey! That'll keep us going some, 😉.
Thanks for doing this, Eadie.
Thanks for doing this, Eadie.
6Andrew-theQM
>5 Sergeirocks: 23 and still going! Thanks Eadie 👏👏👏👍😊
